What if?
by Firetalia
Summary: What if Deidara, the infamous Akatsuki member, was a member of Team Kakashi? Well, in this story, he is! After the demise of Sakura Haruno, new student Deidara is placed on Team 7. Deidara's first mission as a real ninja of Konoha is to spy on the Akatsuki, but not pick a fight with these dangerous ninjas. Will Deidara stay true to this mission?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

His face never dropped that smirk. He silently lowered his clay bird down a little. He sat more firmly on the back of the bird, as he focused all his chakra into the clay. The bomb was ready, time was running low. _I've got him now._

He released the bomb, and let it whistle down towards the target. He began to fly as he heard that familiar boom.

"I'm going to get one of those bells, hm!"

He jumped off the clay bird and let it disappear. He ran, feet pounding hard against the earth. There had to be a bell, lying somewhere on the ground. The incredible amount of dirt his detonating clay had stirred up was impairing his sightlines. He was almost to where his sensei had been standing just moments before, and…

The timer went off. Deidara froze, then gritted his teeth. Late… again. Every time that Kakashi Sensei did this bell training, Deidara was always just a couple steps away from getting one. But again, he was beaten by the timer.

Kakashi emerged from behind the debris left from Deidara's explosives. His one exposed eye was squinted shut, signaling he was smiling behind that mysterious mask. He tossed the bells up in the air and caught them again. That invisible grin never dropped from his face.

"Always close, Deidara, always close. But, once again… looks as though you failed to take them."

Deidara considered getting angry, but he knew that wouldn't get him anywhere. Instead, he stood up straight and smirked.

"Maybe this time, but next time, I'll have them, hm!"

He could hear the tired panting of his teammates. Sasuke and Naruto had been blown about ten feet back by his massive explosion. They both wore dazed expressions, and breathed heavily. Naruto immediately leapt to his feet, whereas Sasuke slowly sat up, looking utterly sullen.

"Deidara! What the hell were you thinking? You could have killed all of us!"

Deidara rolled his eyes. And, once again, Naruto was yelling uncontrollably.

"Naruto, what was the mission, hm? To get the bells. And I almost did, using that explosion."

"Yeah, almost." Sasuke muttered, clamoring to his feet. Deidara glared.

"Well, I'd say that's a good amount of training for a day. I heard that there are some good new missions that have come in, and I think it's about time Deidara goes on one." Kakashi suggested.

Despite starting at the academy very late, Deidara had showed tremendous skill and had been placed on Team 7 when one of their members, Sakura Haruno, had been killed in action. Though he had shown great potential in training, he hadn't been on any missions. Deidara blamed this on the fact that his teammates didn't appreciate his… special talents.

Team 7 arrived at Lady Tsunade's office. She was looking particularly worrisome, chewing at her nails as she whispered a conversation with her assistant Shizune and a man Deidara had never seen before. He was tall, and had a long, wavy ponytail of white hair, and had red marks under his dark eyes. He noticed, though, that Naruto brightened right up when he saw the man.

"Pervy Sage! What are you doing here?"

The man laughed. "Hey, Naruto! I've just been talking to Lady Tsunade."

He looked over at Deidara. "Ah, is this the new kid."

_The new kid?_

Tsunade gave a curt nod. "Deidara, this is Jiraiya. He's a sage-"

"And the author of the Make-out series! I've bet you heard of that!" Jiraiya cut her off.

"Sensei, isn't that what you're always reading?" Deidara turned to Kakashi. Even behind that retched mask, Deidara could make the outline of a pervy smirk. His sensei even began to sweat a little. Deidara rolled his eyes. _What a perv. _

Tsunade interrupted. "Anyway, Jiraiya has come back with some very troubling news. He's been spying on the Akatsuki for quite some time and-"

"Wait, who?" Deidara butted in.

Tsunade sighed. "I forgot, how little you know. Well, the Akatsuki is a group composed of S-Rank missing-nin criminals, who, for quite some time now, has been collecting the tailed beasts out of the Jinchuuriki hosts. Their intentions aren't clear, but we know that at some point, they're going to be headed out here."

Deidara glanced over at Naruto, who was looking dejectedly at the ground. _So, the Akatsuki's after him, hm? I bet I could take all of 'em down with one blast!_

"The key with defeating them is not to be rash. We can't just go into a fight with them and expect to come out unscathed, or alive for that matter." Tsunade continued. "We need a smart team with a smart leader, and I figured that team Kakashi was the right choice for this matter."

"So what exactly do want us to do?" Naruto asked, stepping forward a little. Tsunade stopped chewing her nails and gave the team an intense, determined stare.

"I've decided since Deidara doesn't quite know the ropes of missions yet, you should spy on the Akatsuki more thoroughly. We have located their hideout, but lately security has been tightened up, and we can't quite figure out how to break the seal to get in. It's your job to find a way to spy on them and once you have acquired sufficient information about their upcoming plans, report back to me and we will do what we can with what you've learned."

Deidara folded his arms and let the smirk cross his face again. He said almost degradingly, "Are you sure fighting isn't necessary? My art could do a number on them, hm."

Tsunade leapt up and slammed her hands on the desk. Shizune flinched and Jiraiya rolled his eyes and muttered, "Here we go again…"

"Deidara, with the explosions I've been hearing outside and the complaints I've been getting, I think your uncontrollable 'talent' will _not_ be necessary!" Her voice was like knives.

Deidara's smirk faded, and he leaned back. "_Damn._"

Kakashi turned. "Deidara, don't complain. For your first mission, this is fine."

Naruto laughed and gave a big thumbs- up to the hokage. "We won't let you down, grandma!"

Tsunade couldn't hide a little smile. "Alright. The weather is looking poor, so you all had better be on your way."

Jiraiya handed Kakashi a map and gave a brief explanation that Deidara didn't really pay attention to. As they all walked out of the office to get on their way, Deidara made a promise to himself.

_Those missing-nins will experience my art like no one else before. I will kick the Akatsuki's ass, if it's the last thing I do! _

**Thanks for reading! Remember to comment, follow, and favorite. I'll try to upload as soon as I can, but please keep in mind that ****_I have a life. I am busy._****Thank you!**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Four pairs of sandals crunched over the leaves on the ground. Autumn was fresh and new, but most life was dying already in preparation for a brutal winter. Dead leaves were scattered haphazardly across the pathway where the three genin and one jonin we trudging. No one had said a word through this awkward journey, not even loud-mouthed, hyperactive Naruto Uzumaki.

But, the tides turned very soon. A stick cracked in the wilderness, followed by hopeless scuttling. The ninjas jumped into position, eyes narrowed, ready for action.

"This one's messy. Sasuke, take him with your new chidori." Kakashi muttered. Sasuke nodded. Sasuke stepped forward, hands raised in a fighting position. Deidara stepped forward as well, discreetly sticking his hand into the pocket full of clay. He let the mouth on his left hand chew the clay.

_This ninja is mine. My art is superior to any fighting style Sasuke would use. _

"Deidara, get back. I'll handle this one." Sasuke hissed.

"Alright, hm." Deidara said condescendingly as he took a step back, but continued to chew the clay. It was almost complete.

Sasuke began to advance towards the brush with careful, silent steps. His brows were drawn down tight, and looked cold and fierce. Deidara felt the soft clay in his hand, and shaped into a small bird. _I'll use a weak attack at first to scare the ninja, then beat the crap out of him._

"HA!" Deidara released the bird, and it sped through the air, swooped down where the noise had emitted, and detonated with a bang. Deidara stepped forward quickly, to examine the opponent. He had an image in his mind of a strong warrior, perhaps mist village, who was always looking for a fight. Maybe tall and sinewy, scarred from previous battles, with a hot temper and strong skills. Deidara couldn't wait to take him.

A rabbit. It was a damn rabbit. The little thing had managed to leap out of the way of the blast, so it had only received a minor burn on its lower back. He fled at the sight of Deidara, who squatted and frowned.

"_Tch. _Useless creature."

He stood up and looked at the face of his teammates. Deep down, he dreaded seeing their reactions a little, but mostly faced them with confidence. It was as he expected. Kakashi didn't look fazed in the least. Sasuke was pretty expressionless as well, but showed some sort of disapproving look. Naruto looked like a volcano about to erupt.

"DEIDARA! What the hell were you thinking, you moron!" His voice was like nails on a chalkboard in the artist's head.

Sasuke shook his head slowly, eyes closed. "Loser."

Kakashi walked towards Deidara. "Deidara, that was not a smart move. I'm surprised, usually you think through your attacks more."

_Yeah, but that's when I don't have anything to prove._

"I know, hm."

"I expect more thought from you next time." _Stop acting like my mother, hm. _"Don't do anything stupid, or we might all get killed."

"Yeah, we should get out of here! Deidara's screw up probably's gonna attract ninjas from a hundred miles away!" Naruto lashed out.

"Naruto, calm down. You're not exactly helping." Kakashi warned, as Naruto seethed behind him.

No words were spoken for the longest time. Deidara shoved his hands in his pockets and looked down as they moved on forward. _This is no different from any other time._

The time is seven years ago. Deidara is sitting in front of the third hokage's desk, looking beaten up. A burn on his forearm is wrapped, he has a scratch under his eye and is dirty and bruised. His arms are folded and he is looking at a large poster on the wall. The hokage is hunched, his face shadowed by his enormous hat. It looks like there is nothingness under that hat, with only a thin trail of smoke from his pipe emitting to clue that there is indeed a head under there.

"Did you read it?" the hokage asks quietly.

Deidara slides down in his chair, and shifts his eyes in the other direction.

"Yeah, I did."

"Would you mind reciting it?"

Deidara narrows his eyes. "Academy entrance requirements. One, love the village and hope to help preserve peace and prosperity. Tw-"

"Stop." The hokage raises a feeble hand. "Now please tell me why I asked you to recite that."

Deidara's familiar smirk dances on his lips. "I bet it's 'cause you don't appreciate my artwork, hm."

The hokage sits back, folds his hands on his desk, and sighs. "By your 'art work', you do mean your detonating clay, am I right… Deidara?"

"Yeah, you got that right, hm."

The hokage leans forward again, locking eyes on Deidara. "Deidara, you were brought to my office because you are a threat to the academy. We were reluctant to take someone in signing up so late anyway. Thirteen isn't exactly a good age to start. But you are putting all the students in danger, and… we're not sure if we should continue teaching you."

Deidara's head snaps forward as he hisses, "What do you mean by _that_?"

"Your ability is dangerous and untrained. You blew up a whole room of the academy and put three students and the main sensei in the medical center! If I were in Iruka's place, I would label you _unteachable_."

Deidara smiled to himself as he thought to the memory. _And look what happened when I learned some more control. To hell with them. They were always wrong._


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"Deidara, watch it!"

Sasuke put his arm out and pushed Deidara back. Deidara stumbled and looked down. They had reached a sort of ravine. The edge dipped deep down into some blue, swirling water. In the water was a tall cave, the entrance blocked by a massive stone with some sort of piece of paper on it. The edge of the cliff had crumbled and splashed down below where Deidara would have been standing. He scratched the back of his head and tried not to look embarrassed.

"Follow my lead." Kakashi whispered. Carefully, he slid down the edge of the cliff, and his three students did the same. They waded through the shallow pool, their sandals becoming increasingly heavier as they saturated. As they walked closer to the huge boulder, Deidara observed that the paper had the character _kin_, meaning "forbidden", written in blood-red ink. The ink was dusty and cracked, so it looked as though the seal had been there for a while. _So… this is why Jiraiya had such trouble spying. He couldn't get past the barrier. _Whilst keeping a safe distance, Deidara thought back to the academy, and tried to recall what kind of seal it was and, more importantly, how to break it.

Kakashi, Sasuke, and Deidara made sure to stay back a little in case there was a trap, but Naruto made sure that _he _was the one to check it out first. He rubbed his hands together as he took long, heavy strides towards the seal.

"So seal is going to keep me back!" he cried. Kakashi tried to stop him.

"Naruto, _no!_"

"Rasengan!" he cried, as he formed the swirling blue ball in his hand. It was a weak one, since he had no shadow clones to help him form a stable one, but, as usual, Naruto wasn't thinking clearly. He ran forward, a raucous battle cry ringing from his mouth, as he slammed the Rasengan right into the paper on the boulder. Instead of the powerful jutsu blowing a hole into the rock, or at least ripping up the paper, it completely backfired. It took off a tiny layer of rock, but mostly exploded right back at Naruto. Bits and pieces of the russet boulder flew at the team members, as the powerful wind from the Rasengan whipped wildly. Deidara quickly put up his arm to shield his face from the oncoming shower of rocks. Naruto had been blown back several feet, and had been scratched up quite a bit. He wiped the blood off his cheek.

"Damn it!" he yelled out, and bared his teeth.

"Naruto, don't do that again! You're really lucky the barrier is so strong, so they might not have heard us inside."

It always amazed Deidara how calm and collected Kakashi Sensei always was. He never seemed to get very upset over… well, anything.

Deidara walked up to the sealed boulder and squinted.

"It's a five seal barrier, isn't it, hm? That means that there are four other seals hidden around here. And we need to tear them down at the exact same time."

"Well, we can each take one." Sasuke pondered. "But- wait! There's only four of us… and five seals. Unless… Naruto, could you make a shadow clone and take down two at the same time."

"Ha! Believe it!" Naruto grinned cheekily, and placed his hands behind his head. He was surprisingly unfazed by his failure. He usually moped a little. He was probably just happy to show off his skills.

"I can find them." Deidara eagerly volunteered. He had been chewing some clay for a bit of time now, looking for an opportunity like this. "I'll send out my art, and when they find a seal, they'll explode. We can send someone out to the source every time we see one, hm." Everyone nodded in agreement. Even Naruto had nothing to add.

"I figured the Akatsuki would have a more complicated barrier system like this, so I brought these along just in case." Kakashi held up four grey straps with microphones attached, and four earpieces. "Wear these and we'll be able to keep in contact. Naruto, you should be able to tell your shadow clone what to do without the technology." Naruto nodded curtly.

Deidara fixed the earpiece in his ear fastened the microphone around his neck. A small, tinny voice came through the small thing in his ear.

"Everyone hear this?" He recognized this voice to be Kakashi's. The three students looked over to their sensei and nodded. All of a sudden, everything seemed like the serious business that it was. Kakashi turned to Deidara.

"Alright, it's all you."

Deidara turned out towards the surrounding forest, a trace of that familiar smirk on his face. He closed his eyes and enforced his chakra into the clay, and carefully shaped them into seven small birds: four for the missing seals, and three to be safe (though he had no doubts in his art). He exhaled sharply, and released all the birds. They fluttered out, dully glinting in the afternoon sun, and disappeared into the dense thicket of trees. About twenty seconds had passed, then the first bird flew up and burst into a haphazard array of hot colors.

"I've got this one." Sasuke muttered almost inaudibly, jumping out and then vanishing into the treetops.

Another minute passed.

Then another.

And another.

"Dammit Deidara! What's wrong with your birds?" Naruto suddenly burst out. As usual. Naruto was being impatient and hot-headed.

_Damn fool! How dare he insult my perfect creation! _He considered getting angry, but realized that this was Naruto's frustration talking. Deidara decided to poke at him a little. He found Naruto's random anger entertaining, in a nasty kind of way.

"Maybe if you didn't yell so much, you'd actually allow a thought to come into that brain of yours, hm." Deidara sighed.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY!?"

"What I'm saying is, the Akatsuki doesn't want anyone infiltrating their hideout, so they've placed all of the seals far away from the source, hm."

Right as Deidara finished his condescending explanation, almost a mile out, a bird exploded. Naruto began to jump, but Deidara put his hand up, as that simper crossed his face again. With that smile, he narrowed his eyes.

"Don't worry, hm. I got this one."

Deidara jumped off and away, like it was nothing. But he had no idea about the fight he was in for.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

He sped through the trees, the wind whipping his hair away. His face, though distorted with serious determination, still wore the smirk he never seemed to drop. He knew he had reached the place when he smelled faint smoke and burning clay. He looked down to see slight debris from the explosion.

"Here, hm?" He sneered, jumping down to the ground. A boom sounded in the distance, catching Deidara's senses. He was sure Naruto was right on that one. Finally, the last boom sounded, and he heard Kakashi's normal relaxed voice come over through the microphone.

"On my count of three, pull the barrier. This must be done simultaneously, so it is crucial you pull it down right on three. Am I clear?"

Deidara's and the others' voices rang out.

"Yes, sensei."

"One… two… three!"

Deidara's fingers gripped the flaky edges of the barrier, and he ripped it down. There was a sonic boom kind of sound that blasted into his eardrums.

"Ah! Damnit, un…" Deidara rubbed his ear, squinting in pain. But suddenly, he froze. The ground, which had been a flat surface just seconds previously, was rising into a misshapen sort of mound. It kept rising, and branching out, turning into some sort of familiar shape… The shape of a human. Deidara began to back up a bit, heart rate skyrocketing. The ground abruptly stopped, and all the grass melted away.

"A-are you guys seeing this too?" Naruto's shaky voice was heard through the headset.

"Yeah, I'm seein' it." Deidara recognized Sasuke's flat tone.

Deidara looked up and saw the looming figure in front of him. He recognized the figure to be… him. Yes, him. Identical, except for the clothing. This Deidara wore a sinister grin, and was draped in an Akatsuki cloak. Deidara tried not to tremble.

"He's exactly the same as me!" stammered Naruto. "Same clothing and everything."

"Same here."

"Yes, Naruto."

Deidara piped up, "Wait! Mine's wearing an Akatsuki cloak, un."

There was a ringing silence, before Kakashi said, "Deidara, that's not possible. This jutsu copies you exactly."

"But-" Deidara paused. "Oh."

No one had the chance to answer. Deidara's copy shoved his hand into his bag of clay. Deidara fumbled around and did the same. His copy smirked.

"Looks like it's a race." The copy sneered. Deidara said nothing.

"You sure are quiet right now, un. What's on your mind, huh?"

Deidara tried to ignore the mocking and chew the clay faster. When he felt it was done, he quickly closed his eyes, focused, and created the giant flying bird. He could hear desperate fighting sounds from his teammates through the headseat. It sounded bloody.

"Hah!" The copy laughed. "You're not going _anywhere!_"

Before Deidara could even blink, the Akatsuki Deidara was right up there with him. Wearing a devious sneer, the copy flung a barrage of little clay birds. Deidara pulled up and his bird shot up higher. The little birds exploded just a few feet under him. The wind from the blast made Deidara's hair fly wild.

"It's mighty hard fighting yourself, hmm, isn't it?" The Akatsuki Deidara rose up to the real Deidara's level. It was odd for Deidara to be looking into his own eyes. He was fighting… him. But _no!_ This wasn't him- was it?

"You aren't me, un!" Deidara narrowed his eyes. "I'm not enough of a fool to join the Akatuski."

The copy cocked his head to the side, his sneer creeping up his cheeks.

"Oh? Is that so, un? If you aren't… enough of a _fool _to join, then why did you, huh?"

Deidara was aghast, his heart pounding.

"What the hell are you talking about? I'm a proud Konoha Shinobi, un!"

"Huh? Are you so sure….?"

Deidara's gaze snapped down to his clothes, which were melting into black. His shirt extended down into a long black robe, with the Akatsuki symbol on the front. The sleeves lengthened, so they were long and loose. Deidara's jaw dropped, and his eyes widened in horror. He heard his copy laughing as everything began to get blurry. He began to lose sight of everything he was. His copy seemingly teleported next to him. He could feel the hot breath on his neck, but felt as though he could not move.

"How… h-how is the possible, un?" he stammered, feeling as though he was about to faint.

The copy pushed his lips up near Deidara's ear and whispered hotly.

"We are the same. You can't get out once you get in."

Everything went silent as a huge explosion rocked the sky. Deidara was thrown from the bird and began to fall. Darkness was enclosing him as a whole.

_Is this what it's like… to be… dying?_


	5. Epilogue

Epilogue

Deidara awoke to see a pair of light brown eyes and a mop of messy red hair.

"Sasori, my man." He murmured.

Sasori stood up straight as Deidara sat up.

"You were twitching in your sleep like a rabid ferret." said Sasori flatly. Yep, that was Deidara's partner. Always right to the point. "I thought you were dying."

_And you didn't do anything?_

Deidara muttered, "No, uh, just a rough dream, un."

Sasori stared with unblinking eyes. "A nightmare?" He paused. "Fascinating."

Deidara got to his feet, woozy. He rubbed his left temple, as he slowly became conscious to the fact that he really didn't feel like himself. Just a dream... just a dream...

_Just a dream, huh?_

Sasori turned, wearing his same kind of cold, empty expression. "While you were busy being useless the Leader called us in for a meeting. It would be nice if you could attend, hmm?"

Deidara slowly snapped out of it. "Oh, yeah... un. I'll be there, as the, erm, _commited _Akatsuki member I am."

He realized how stupid that sounded when his partner just stared without making a snide remark of some sort.

Deidara followed after Sasori, everything kind of a blur. He had felt so odd in that dream. The way he felt fighting for the good side… such a strange sensation. The whole dream sequence had been so realistic.

His feelings had been so genuine.

The happiness he sensed had felt real…

**The End**

**Just a short interesting ending ^_^ I really hope you guys enjoyed it! Please favorite or review. Thanks so much!**


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